Man who recorded pig’s treatment banned from Iowa State Fair

FILE – In this Aug. 9, 2018 file photo, Angel Sanchez hangs a sign on the top of a concession stand during final preparations for the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines man who recorded what he says was the abuse of a show pig at the Iowa State Fair earlier this month has been banned from the fair for life.

Wheaten Mather tells the Des Moines Register that he and a friend were at the fair Aug. 8 when he saw a boy hitting a squealing show pig in the face with a stick called a hog whip, and Mather started recording on his cellphone.

Mather confronted fair CEO Gary Slater about the incident 10 days later. Mather says Slater tolerated his questions at first, then became dismissive and called fair police.

Mather says that’s when an officer told him he was being ejected for life.

Fair spokeswoman Mindy Williamson says Mather was banned because he was combative and “a little threatening.”